1. Field of Invention
The present invention is related to the preparation of beverages, such as coffees and teas, by brewing or infusing. More specifically, the present invention relates to brewing and infusing devices which include a filter for removing solid material from which the beverage is prepared from the beverage so obtained.
2. Description of the Related Art
Coffee and other flavored beverages have been enjoyed by people since the ninth century A.D., and many brewing and infusing methods have been tried over the years. Infusions and brews are primarily achieved by adding hot water to flavoring solids, such as tea leaves, herbs or coffee beans. The beverage achieves a desired state by allowing a sufficient time for the optimum flavors to be extracted from the solids into the water, and then ceasing the process by removing the water from the solids. Unregulated exposure to the flavoring solids may over-extract the solids, releasing strong or unpleasant tastes like bitterness in coffee.
In most current brewing methods, ceasing the infusion process requires the removal of a filtering device from the beverage. This is often inconvenient and messy for the user. Additionally, most infusing methods require a preparation device to be separate from the drinking device. Further, most of the products on the market do not allow proper insulation of the beverage once it has been prepared.
Coffee is extracted by grinding beans into smaller pieces, and brewing. For a given amount of coffee, the surface area of a finer grind is exponentially greater than that of a coarser grind. As a result, finer grinds can brew much more quickly. However, the coffee preparation device must have a filter that can keep the smaller particles of finer grinds from passing into the beverage.
Lipids are small oils found in coffee that give it a buttery texture, and this is a desired attribute in gourmet coffees. Lipid molecules are generally found to be around 0.4 mm in diameter. There is a need for an invention that allows beverages to be infused into a convenient device that both prepares a beverage infusion and also serves as a drinking cup. Ideally, such an invention would be composed of at least two cups, namely, an inner cup and an outer cup, in which the inner cup would have a filter which would allow the passing of lipids, but not of the flavoring solids or grounds, into the beverage being prepared. This need is satisfied by the present invention.